ClutchPoints

NFL analyst thinks Green Bay Packers will win the NFC North in 2019

The Green Bay Packers are coming off of a pretty disappointing 2018 NFL season. After starting out with an incredible Week 1 victory over the Bears, the Packers finished the season 6-9-1, missing the playoffs for the second straight year. Despite the poor season, that hasn’t stopped one NFL columnist from predicting them to make it back to the top of the mountain in 2019.

In a report on his nine bold predictions for the 2019 NFL season, NFL.com’s Adam Schein (via 247 Sports) shared his thought that he believed the Packers would turn things around in a big way. Although most oddsmakers have the Packers over/under for wins at around nine, Schein things the team will go 11-5, and win another NFC North title.

“I love what Green Bay has done this offseason. General manager Brian Gutekunst arguably added five defensive starters in free agency (S Adrian Amos, DE Za’Darius Smith, OLB Preston Smith) and the draft (DE Rashan Gary, S Darnell Savage),” he said. “Big for a unit that hasn’t cracked the top 20 in points allowed since 2015. Gutekunst also upgraded two offensive areas that needed attention: offensive line and tight end. And I love the appointment of Matt LaFleur as head coach. With a clean bill of health, Aaron Rodgers’ “I can be coached” tour is going to be real and spectacular.”

Of course, the NFC North is not the easy division that it once was. Not only are the Chicago Bears legitimate Super Bowl contenders now, but the Minnesota Vikings are also a very talented team that was one game away from the Super Bowl two years ago. Combine that with a somewhat difficult regular season schedule in 2019, and the Packers winning 11 games becomes a bit tougher to envision, although it isn’t impossible.

With Aaron Rodgers reportedly 100 percent healthy coming into the offseason, the Packers expectations should be that of a division title and much more, but given how poorly they’ve performed in the last two seasons, it’s likely best to temper expectations at the moment.